Knives & Roses
by PickUpYourPencil
Summary: Cato and Clove. Clove and Cato. The lovers of District 2. The untold story. Their chance at victory, the two that should of won. The two that could of won. This is the story of them. Their side. And why Katniss Everdeen, the upstart District 12 girl, had to die. This is the story of Clove and Cato, and how they won the 74th Annual Hunger Games.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello. It's my first time on Fanfiction…I'd love some reviews, for as most authors know, reviews are really uplifting! Yes, this is eventually AU, so it will shift from the original storyline soon. It's from Clove's point of view, and Cato and her…You'll see. Yes, it is Clato. So, here is the prologue of Knives & Roses!**

"Sing to the skiiiiies,

Say your goooodbyeees.

It's time to leeeeeeeeeeeeeeave now..."

I smacked the radio shut. It hurt my ears, hearing the crooning of a lovesick Capitol singer. I was quite bored, having finished training early. I had passed easily, as I had chosen knives as my testing area. Tomorrow, however, was going to be hand-to-hand combat, an area that was far from my forte.

The doorbell rang, and Cato stepped in.

"Hello, Knife Girl," he said cheerfully.

I looked him coldly in the eyes.

"Hello," I was emotionless.

"Anything you want to do?"

"No," I said bluntly."Go away."

Cato had the nerve to pretend to be hurt.

"I-I-I thought we-we-we had something sp-sp-special!" Cato wailed obnoxiously. "I-I must of b-been mistaken!" He sobbed dramatically, and pretended to faint to the ground while clutching his heart.

I didn't respond. A second or two ticked by slowly. Cato twitched his eye.

Then, at the same time, we both burst out in laughter.

* * *

It all started a few years back, when I was just turning nine, and first entering the Training center. Yes, training wasn't supposed to happen until eleven, but the Capital didn't really even allow training. However, the Capital turned a blind eye, because training meant more bloodshed in the Games. Also, all victor's children could be nominated to go in at a early age. My mother had won the 54th Games, one of the bloodiest games for its time. She had used a spear tip to brutally bludgeon the last tribute to death. However, she wasn't the only one to use resources to kill. Her district partner was strangled by a piece of food packaging, laced so tight that one of his veins popped.

Anyways, there I was, the littlest one there. Small as an ant, but fiercer than a lion. I went straight to the eleven-year-olds to train with them, instead of staying with my class, "Killing 4 Kiddies 101". A burly boy came over to sneer at me, and without thinking, I punched him smack in the face. Blood ran in rivulets down the bully's face. Another boy roared with laughter behind us, and his friends chortled with him. That was Cato.

A week later, Cato and I were in the sparring center. He was equipped with a sword and a shield, whereas I only had my knives. It was clearly in Cato's favor, and I would have long been defeated if not for my agility, a place where he lacked. We ended up in a draw, my longest knife pressed up tightly against his shield, my other knives scattered alongside his discarded sword. Enobaria, our trainer and past victor, snapped her fingers, and we both stepped out of the arena. She always called us by our surnames, whether we liked it or not.

"Humph. Not impressive, Tellarn." I looked at my feet. "Also, you need to work on your close combat. You're knives were good, but you fell apart after he got his shield out. You're lucky you're agility is good. Pallor," Enobaria said, turning toward Cato, "You did quite well on your close combat _and _long-distance, _but you should have won! _You were clearly stronger, but her agility gave her a last life! If you reached to your inner strength, _you would have won in the __**beginning!"**_

Enobaria shook her head, and waved her hand to dismiss us. We went, holding our heads down in shame.

In the hallway outside the training center, as we went to get water, Cato turned to speak to me.

"Hey, um, you were really good with those knives, and you were really, uh, quick. I honestly suck at agility and was wondering if you could help me. And-uh, in exchange, I could help you with close combat. Would you like that?" He seemed fidgety, twiddling his thumbs back and forth.

I cocked my head and thought about his offer. In the end, it seemed pretty good for me. If we were in the Hunger Games, I would have another way to kill him. Even if we were friends, I could kill him. I just hadn't counted on falling in _love _with him.

**A/N: I know it's really short, but it's a prologue. So sorry. Also, I'm always going to leave a writing prompt at the end, so this is this chapter's:**

**Imagine if you were a gamemaker in the Hunger Games. What would your arena be like? Remember, arenas are made to ****_kill._**

**__****~PickUpYourPencil**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello again! I actually got a review for this and 2 follows! Thank you, eskimogirl15 and BamSQUARED for reading this! You guys get cookies. (::) I hope you guys continue reading!**

**Disclaimer: There are over a few billion people in this world, and only one owns Hunger Games. I don't have that kind of luck. :(**

**Without further ado, here's Chapter 1 of Knives & Roses!**

It was the day of the Reaping. My mom had made me wear a flimsy top and a very short skirt, much to my distaste. I guess I was lucky though, many girls dressed up in bouncy dresses with high hemlines. I skipped the make-up, and walked briskly outside.

Cato was already there, waiting for me. Dean Squaten was next to him and he was staring bug-eyed at my skirt. I glared at him. Just because I didn't normally wear skirts doesn't mean the apocalypse was going to take place if I did. Cato's laugh brought me back to reality. I scowled at him

"What made you wear that?" He didn't even try to hide his amusement. I slugged him in the arm. He winced and whined about how girls that looked small should have warnings about their punches hung around their necks. I smirked, content with it. Dean was still staring. Cato noticed, looked at where his eyes were pointing, suddenly lost his smile, and glared fiercely at him. Now usually, I could easily read Cato's glares, but this one was a new one, with a unexpected hint of protectiveness I didn't understand. I shook my head. Boys.

At the reaping center, or the Training Hall, Enobaria pulled us over.

"Pallor, you are volunteering this year, correct?"

Cato nodded.

"And you, Tellarn, are waiting until next year, correct?"

I dipped my head in agreement.

She looked left and right, before leaning close to me.

"I know what you are capable of. I have been pushing you and Pallor the hardest of them all. This year's volunteer girl is very cowardly, and she might not volunteer, given the chance that the girl chosen is strong. If she will not, I want you to. Alright? Good. Make me proud, Clove."

I blinked. That was the first time she'd ever called me by my first name. Also, Emilia Verdana, the toughest girl I knew, was cowardly? That was a big shock.

"Attention, attention! The reaping ceremony is about to begin!"The high, annoying voice of Dewsis, our escort, pierced the air. "This is the story behind the Hunger Games…"

After an eternity of high-pitched squeaking about the Capitol on Dewsis's part, the reaping had finally begun. Dewsis wobbled on sky-high blue heels to the girl's bowl, and reached in. She swung her bony, decorated hand around, fishing for the "perfect name" in a sea of identical pieces of paper. She finally closed her hand on one, pulling it out with a dramatic flourish.

"Aha! Our District 2 girl tribute for the 74th annual Hunger Games is… " Dewsis paused for suspense.

"CLOVE TELLARN!"

I whipped my head around, waiting for Emilia to volunteer, or someone else who wanted the glory. A second ticked by. No one volunteered. Everyone was in shocked silence, because Emilia still hadn't put her hand up. Since the Peacekeepers were getting closer, I walked up to the hall stage and climbed up, coldly staring at the crowd below. I looked for two people. My mother had a look of pure satisfaction on her face, and was flashing a thumbs-up at me. Cato was not even half that happy.

He was frozen in shock, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. I didn't understand, until I remembered that he was volunteering. Only one of us would get out safely.

Dewsis's voice cut my thoughts short. "This year's boy tribute is…"

She raised her hand and announced, "LUKE CASTE-

"I volunteer."

Cato was calm now, not a trace of worry was on his face. Cato's father was also smug, raising an eyebrow at my mother. She smartly chose to ignore him. He climbed onto the stage. Many girls in the crowd were swooning at his "bravery", and some were even glaring at me in jealousy. Cato wasn't ugly, but before then I had no idea that he had that many followers.

Cato was next to me, and we shook hands. One of the smart-aleck boys in the 16-year-old section made loud kissing noises. I promptly took off my shoe, found him in the crowd, and beamed him in the eye with my sandal. He crumpled, and crashed into the guy behind him. Enobaria laughed with my mother. Cato grinned.

Dewsis hurried us away, probably to stop me from using my other shoe to hit someone else in the face.

I was now in the visiting room, knowing that Cato was probably fending off wave after wave of determined fangirls. I silently laughed to myself, knowing that I wouldn't have half as many people visit. Only my mom would come, and possibly Enobaria, if she wasn't mentoring. Therefore, I was completely shocked when Dean Squanton came in.

"Um-I, before you, uh-go into the Hunger Games, I just wanted to tell you, that I've always liked you, and uh-um the day I was staring was because, well, I think you're really pretty, and I'd never seen you in such a short skirt, and-"

"Stop, Dean. I understand that you like me, and I know this is really cold, but I just don't feel the same way about you."

"Is there someone else? I mean another boy? Or a-a another girl?" Dean had a slightly murderous look on his face. I feared for the guy who I lent my knives to on the test last week.

"No, no, not at all. It's just that this is so out of the blue...And I don't really like you. At least not in a relationship way," I tried to be nice. Apparently, I failed.

"Can I at least get a kiss?"

"No..."

"I want a kiss."

"Dean..."

"I want a kiss."He stepped forward menacingly. I curled my fingers into a fist.

"Time's up!" I mentally thanked the Peacekeeper.

Dean stepped out, before promising that once I won the Hunger Games and came back, he'd still be waiting. I maturely stuck out my tongue.

My mother came in and wrapped me in a hug.

"Oh my little Clove, off to kill people...Do a good job and win for me, 'kay? I'll be rooting for you through and through! And if you can, get a higher training score than Cato, m'kay sweetie? Oh, if only your father could see you, he'd be sooo proud!"

My mother paused to wipe her eyes. She smiled, the first real time in years. "Good luck sweetie. Here."She pressed a little locket into my hands. 'Clove, Amaryllis, & Tanner' was engraved on the front. Inside was a family picture of my mother, father, and I.

"Was-was this Dad's?"

My mother nodded. I gasped, and put it gingerly around my neck. She patted me on the shoulder and walked out.

The Peacekeeper was probably confused. Usually, mothers had to be dragged out of the room. My mom just walked out. I smiled. Only Amaryllis would do that.

Enobaria didn't come. She most likely was mentoring this year, so I didn't really care. Suddenly, there was a loud sob/scream from the other side of the rooms, coming from outside the room.

"CATO-PIE! NOOOOOO! YOU CAN'T SEPERATE ME FROM MY ONE TRUE LOVE! DON'T YOU LOVE ME, CATO-PIE?"

"...No..."

"THAN WHOOO DO YOU LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE...," She probably was just dragged away by the Peacekeepers, I thought.

I couldn't hear what Cato said next, but considering the next series of sounds, ( a scream of "CATIE!", a thump, a muffled swear word said by Cato, a swear word said by a Peacemaker, a shriek, a "NOOOOOO!", and a groan,) another girl had paid a visit.

* * *

The train was uncomfortable. As soon as Cato saw me, he ran up and enveloped me in a big hug. I kind of sucked at emotion, so I just awkwardly patted his lower back, which made me feel like a grandma.

"What's with the hugs?"

"I had so many scary fangirls tackle me. You will not tackle me, so I'm hugging you.

"..."

"You smell fresh, too."

"Okay..."

"Hey, lovebirds, want to watch the reapings on the TV?" Enobaria's sordid voice was recognizable anywhere.

"We're not-Love-I mean, Yes!" I stumbled over my words.

Brutus chuckled, and walked out the train compartment door.

Cato let go of my stomach, than gripped my hand and dragged me over to the couch.

In my head, I made my own little talk show and commented on the tributes.

_**Welcome to the best talk show in Clove's head, called Tribute Talk! (a.k.a "Clove is Psycho")**_

_**CT(Clove Tellarn): District 1!**_

_**CT:Hm...The female is clearly a ditzy 04571(Tchnical Error due to improper language),**_

_**but the boy seems somewhat useful.**_

_**CT: District 2, well, not to brag, we ARE the best district out there.**_

_**CT: District 3, like always, has two puny little munchkins, even shorter than I am!**_

_**CT: You're insulting yourself, Clove. Not good.**_

_**CT:District 4, our fellow Careers, look alright. Not important.**_

_**CT: District 5, the girl looks sneaky. Mental Note to watch out for her.**_

_**MENTAL NOTE MADE: WATCH OUT FOR SNEAKY 5 GIRL**_

_**CT: District 6, yawn, yawn, yawn...**_

_**CT: 7, nothing better...**_

_**CT: 8...**_

_**CT:9...**_

_**CT: 10...**_

_**CT: 11's girl is smaller than the District 3 tributes! She's gonna die in the Bloodbath...**_

_**CT: Whoa! 11's boy is huge! We should ask him to join.**_

_**CT: 12...What? A volun-volunteer? In 12? Oookay...**_

_**CT: Ehh..The boy looks boring.**_

_**CT: That's it for today, folks! Goodnight!**_

"Clove. Clove. CLOVE!"

"Huh? Wha-huh?"

"You just drifted off and your eyes glazed over,"Cato said, worried.

"Me? Oh, I'm fine..."I replayed my recent thoughts, and decided that I must of started to lose my marbles. Uh-oh.

Enobaria snorted. "If you do that in the arena, you'll be the first Career down."

"Okay..."

The train compartment door slid open and Brutus came out.

"We're here," he announced.

**A/N: Yes, I just HAD to add the talk show. This is STILL stupidly short, but I tried. I also tried to make it funny. Did I succeed?**

**Prompt Time:**

**You are an oatmeal raisin cookie. How do you defeat your enemy, the chocolate chip cookie?**

**~PickUpYourPencil**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hiya, People! As you've probably noticed, I update about once a week. Or at least I try. I failed this time. As you probably have noticed, Clove seems way too nice. Oops.**

**On a different note, I wrote out a bunch of chapters, then realized they were on a different computer. I went to get my USB drive, and then my sister wiped it! She hit the 'x' button, and lost all my progress. I only remember a bit, so here is the second/third chapter of Knives & Roses! Reviews will magically help, of course!**

The train pulled up smoothly at the station. People were crowding around us, even though tributes were not to be seen before the chariot ride. District 2 let the Capital bend the rules, and likewise did the Capital.

Dewsis fluttered her hands and shooed the audience away immediately, but not before I heard some rude, snobby, even-higher-pitched-person-than-Dewsis, say something inexcusable.

"That girl is puny. She won't last a second in the Games. She is a disgrace to District Two. She-"

I was furious. No one called me puny and got away with it. I opened my mouth to retort, but Cato lunged forward and beat me to it.

"Clove is not puny. She can probably kill all of you in seconds, without any time for you to scream. She is worth twelve of you, one for each odd piece of hair on your head."

The Capitalite squirmed, trying to break free from Cato's iron grip. Dewsis squeaked in terror, and tried to pull Cato off, but what she didn't know was only one person, (or so I thought,) could calm him down. His mom. She died a while ago.

"Come on, Cato. Let's go," I said, while trying not to laugh at the trembling Capital man. "Thank you, though."

Cato dropped the man with a thunk. He cocked his head at me and smiled. "Let's go, then."

* * *

I hate prep teams. I absolutely hate them. The giggly, bouncing things as the ripped out every single follicle of hair on my legs. Ouch. The wax burnt my skin, they let it dry, they put the paper on-riiiiip. Pain. Lucky Cato doesn't have to do this.

When my stylist comes, I'm scrubbed pink, naked, and majorly ticked off.

"Ahhe. Ze lovely Miz Clove. I am ze vorld-renowned Doctor Zelivenski! I am zere to make an paaarfect outfit for you. Zince Deez-trict 2 is Maz-onry, you and your partner shall wear vonderful outfits made of shining metal, as godz! Ooh-la-la! You shall be ze star of ze show!"

I nodded dully. Okay.

The outfits were gorgeous. Made out of a reflective metal, they shined like gold, and did look like a god/goddess's clothings. He was right. We would be "ze star of ze show"!

Suddenly, the Chariot Ride sounded so fun.

I met up with Cato by the Chariots. He was wearing a similar costume to mine, with golden wings coming from the helmet.

"Hey! Clovsie, wanna go check out our pack?"

I nodded, and slapped his outstretched arm away.

Cato feigned shock again, and laughing, I took his arm. We strolled together, Cato holding my hand a little tighter than neccesary, but I didn't object. Cato isn't a bad-looking boy. At all. Quite the opposite, really.

Of course, the District 1 girl noticed that too. Throwing herself at him, she smoothly detached my hand from his and smiled sweetly at Cato.

"Hey there, good-looking..," she tossed her hair, and I felt an new kind of anger rush through me. Was it...jealousy?!

The District 1 boy rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "My partner's a ditz. What's your name? You seem a lot smarter than Blondie over there."

"Clove. And you?"

"Marvel. Clove...Like the garlic?"

"Well, no..." Clearly, he wasn't the brightest bulb.

Cato dragged himself over. "You guys know how to fight?" He seemed to be speaking bitterly, mostly at Marvel.

Marvel nodded. "I'm pretty good with a spear. Blondie is okay with bow and arrows. We heard some rumors that 12 had an archer though, so Glimmer's going to have to fight for them."

District 4 came, with a long-faced girl and an ugly boy. They didn't seem too useful, but they were Careers. They introduced themselves.

While they talked to Marvel and Glimmer, I looked at Cato and pointed to the boy. Cato drew a line across his throat, and nodded to me.

"ATTENTION TRIBUTES! EVERY TRIBUTE BACK IN THEIR CHARIOT! THE CHARIOT RIDES ARE STARTING!"

We all climbed back to our respective chariot, and the anthem played loudly.

"DISTRICT 1!"

Cheers, loud, rambunctious cheers.

"DISTRICT 2!"

Cato and I stood tall, not waving, but looking down at the audience. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, I kissed Cato's cheek and the cheers erupted into a new level. Cato looked dazed.

"DISTRICT 3!"

And so on.

At the end, I waited for 12 to be called in the normal fashion. I was, of course, then shocked.

"DISTRICT 12- WHAT?! THEY'RE ON FIRE!"

Tremendous cheers exploded from the normally bored audience. I, however was not pleased.

"How dare they...?!" Cato echoed my thoughts out loud.

"We were supposed to be the stars!" I seethed with anger. "How dare the filthy street rats steal our spotlight?"

Cato looked angry, but, looking back, not nearly as much as he should have been. He actually had looked slightly dazed, but I hadn't noticed that.

I was much too angry at 12. I swore that I would get them, and they would die, painfully. Especially that archer girl, who was staring at me coldly. Oh, she wasn't going to be knifed by anyone, she would be knifed by me. And Cato could have the boy. Or he would be killed in the Bloodbath. Whatever.

* * *

"Today was terrible."

"It wasn't that bad..."

"The District 12 people showed us, the Careers, up!"

"It's okay."

As we went into the elevator for a short ride to the District 2 bedrooms, I wondered what the arena would be like this year. I desperately hoped it wouldn't have too many muttations. I honestly hated those things. Yes, I, Clove Tellarn, was scared of something.

Close your mouth, you're going to swallow a fly.

Anyways, the District 2 rooms were posh as ever. Secretly, I knew not every District had a soft-serve machine, and that we were the Capital's little spoiled baby. That's good for us though, isn't it?

Enobaria and Brutus were waiting at the table, a murderous look on Enobaria , and a smug smirk on Brutus'. Clearly, Brutus had found yet another way to piss her off. Brutus was good at that.

I sat down at the table not a second before Cato did, and unfortunately, we choose the same chair. We bumped each other awkwardly, and both halfway scurried to the other chair, until I sat in one by accident and Cato took the other. Brutus chuckled.

"So, I know that today's chariot ride wasn't nice, but you guys are fine anyway, and" Enobaria drawled, "this year's tributes are my personal choice. The best in my class. A few days of training, a great performance in front of the Gamekeepers, and the Games are in the bag. Objections?"

Brutus raised his hand.

Enobaria rolled her eyes. "What, Bru-u-utus?"

Brutus smirked. "Nothing. Just wanted piss you off."

Both Cato and I had to hold a lunging and cursing Enobaria.

* * *

That night, as I changed into my nightwear, I thought about how Cato defended me this morning against the rude Capital man, whose name, according to Enobaria, was Lantice Poddening. (Hm. I'd call him Mr. Lantern if I ever saw him again.) It had been really sweet of him to do it, and the tiny, gentle, nice part of my brain screamed at the rest of me to go and thank him. (The nice, gentle part of me screams. Get over it.)

It was kind of him, especially from a guy like Cato. I donned my slippers and went to knock at his door.

"Go away...I'm sleeeeeepy..."I smiled. Only Cato.

"It's me, Clove."

"Huh? Whaaa...? Come in then..."He suddenly sounded wide awake.

I creaked open the door. Cato was lying in bed, his shirt thrown carelessly across the room alongside his nightshirt. He waved across the room. I pretended to gag and vomit at the sight, and promptly got hit in the face with a pillow.

I walked into the room and plopped on the bed. Cato punched me in the arm and I glared at him for a second.

"AH! The ugliness scars me!"I covered my eyes.

"...Shut up."

"No! I will not shut-mmph!"

I was now smothered under at least five pillows. How did he get so many pillows? I only had three!

"Will you shut up now?!"

I didn't respond, and Cato pulled off the pillows. I opened my mouth to speak, and Cato held up a warning finger.

"It's important, I promise!" I was gripping my own pillow of choice.

"Okay,"Cato said,"What?"

Suddenly, my cheeks felt really hot, as if someone suddenly lit a match right under my chin.

"I-er, just wanted to-um, say thanks for, you know, sticking up for me to-today against Mr. Lantern."

"Huh?"

"You forgot already?!"

"Who's Mr. Lanturn?"

Oh. Crud. I. Just. Said. Mr. Lantern. Out. Loud.

"Uhh...Well, I meant the rude Capital person today, and his name was Lantice, and-um, I thought of lantern, so now he's, um, Mr. Lantern..."

Cato looked at me. "Well then, you're welcome."

Whoa...He didn't even laugh at me!

"By the way, you look good in that nightgown," Cato said randomly, cocking his head.

I flipped my hair dramatically. "I know, I know..."

"Shut it."

I made a face, but my heart wasn't into it. Cato noticed, and knew what was wrong.

"Clove, what happened today isn't that bad. Yes, 12 was the highlight, but when we decapitate them in the arena, it's going to be fine. I promise. We can painfully kill them."

I didn't answer.

"Clove?"

"You know the word 'decapitate'?!"

"...You suck."

"I know."

I got up from the bed and stretched, and lingered in awkward silence for a few more seconds, and then headed out Cato's room, while grabbing a few pillows. "Well, goodnight then."

"Goodnight, Mrs. My-friend-tries-to-cheer-me-up-but-instead-I-make- fun-of-them."

"That's a lot of hyphens."

"S-H-U-T I-T!"

"Okay, okay, goodnight."

"Bye."

I walked out of the room, then suddenly had a great idea.

"Hey Cato, you look good with no shirt on."

Little did I know, Cato was beaming like a sunray after hearing that.

**A/N: Yeah, I know it's still slightly short. Sorry for such a long wait!**

**I know I really should be updating more, and I might have a chapter next week.**

**However, after that, I will be going to D.C, and unable to post. Then, school starts and I'm going to be crazy busy. You might want to expect the next chapter in a week and a half...**

**Anyway, here is your review responses!**

**writingiswhatido: Thank you! You are one of the few people that reviewed, so thank you!**

**Guest: Nice. Yes, yes you can.**

**Thank you if you followed this or Different!**

**And here is your prompt:**

**There are ninety-nine identical keys hanging on the wall. There is one beautiful, ivory skeletal key on the floor. Where does it open?**

**Yes, these are all my own prompts sprung from my brain. Write!**

**~PickUpYourPencil**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Do not hate me. I have a perfectly good excuse for not writing. See, I was walking one fine day, and some idiot decided to keep a skateboard lying around. Me being me, I tripped, and broke my arm. Then-**

**No, that didn't happen.**

**I don't have a broken arm.**

**I don't have a good reason for not writing.**

**Heck, I don't even have a reason.**

**Now I shall run screaming like a little girl.**

**Three…Two...One…**

**AIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

**I'm sorry you guys, Fanfiction has been a big thing weighing on my mind these days, a thing that screamed, "You're supposed to be writing, NOT READING!"**

**This probably wasn't a good time to become obsessed with a fic that made me bawl my eyes out. Oops…**

**You are probably ticked off enough, so here's the extremely late chapter 4.**

It was so freaking cold in the Training Center. So freaking cold. I was trying not to shiver, for the other Careers would make fun.

I'm not mentioning any names, but here's a hint. It starts with "C", and ends with "ato".

Anyway, Enobaria had told us to stick with the weapon training centers, and to stay far away from any of the "useless" centers.

I was at the agility course, running with ease through the highest setting over and over again.

Then, I was going against Her Ladyship's wishes and learning about non-poisonous plants.

After listening to a long lecture about the deadly nightlock plant, I looked around for my fellow Careers.

Glimmer was shooting arrows at a target, doing fairly wel

Marvel was at the close-combat, along with the ugly, disappointing District 4 tributes. Neither of them were really good. I face-palmed as the girl tripped over a mace and smashed into the District 9 girl.

Her partner was no better. I don't know how he managed to hit himself in the nether regions with a baton, and I never will know.

Hours passed. I switched to the spear station.

Cato was at the knives station receiving instruction from a bored-looking man who was checking his nails.

I swiveled my head to look at the rest of the tributes.

Nothing was going on, and I was tiring of throwing the spear over and over again, narrowly missing the bullseye every time, but still hitting the chest of the dummy. I hadn't gone over to the knife-throwing center yet, because I was going to keep my talent hidden until the Gamemakers' test. I sighed yet again, and threw the spear yet again in an almost-perfect-but-not-quite line. Thunk.

Suddenly, there was chaos.

"Did you take my knife?! I know you took my knife, you little thief! Gimme back my knife! Oho, no, I'm not letting you run away. Gimme back my knife!"

Cato's voice was easy to pick out. Peacekeepers swarmed the center, pulling the District 6 boy from Cato's clutches. Cato was shaking with anger, and was fighting the Peacekeepers furiously.

I struggled to get through the throng of Peacekeepers, but once at the front, I simply raised an eyebrow.

Cato looked at me with a fierce glint in his eyes, but the second it registered to him it was Clove, the girl who teased him about everything, he sighed and let the Peacekeepers pull the slightly shaken District 6 boy away from Cato.

"Oh, I'm gonna kill your little sorry butt in the arena first," Cato snarled.

The boy whimpered, and backed into a corner.

After we walked out of the Peacekeepers' earshot, I turned around to face Cato.

"What was that?" I couldn't keep amusement from slipping into my voice. "Mr. Cato picking fights with puny little tributes?"

"Shut up."

"No, seriously, why?"

"'Cause he stole my knife, that's why."

"Care to elaborate?"

He was quiet. I took that as a no.

* * *

Up in District 2's lounge, Enobaria stood with crossed arms, a scowl on her face.

"Marcate Pallor! What the heck was that?! I love intimidating people, but can't you wait until the arena to kill people? Next time, simply glare and stare. Don't try to destroy them. And if they did take your knife, ask them cooly and scarily. Hmph." Enobaria stalked away.

Brutus was cleaning his nails with a knife in a corner, and quietly murmured to Cato something I only barely caught. "It was about Ms. Clove here, wasn't it?"

I watched out of the corner of eye as Cato nodded.

* * *

We were heading up to our rooms that night, when Cato suddenly froze.

"Cato?" He usually didn't resemble a popsicle.

"I was just thinking, um, about last night's conversation…"

"And…?"

"Did you really mean what you said,said- last night?"Cato blurted.

I was curious. "What did I say?"

Cato looked flustered. "You know, the thing about me being, um, good-looking and all?"

I laughed, and Cato now resembled a cherry-flavored popsicle.

"Of course. Why lie when you're going to get killed?"

Cato unfroze, and gave me a typical arrogant smirk of his, that was very cute, and walked back to his room, a spring in his step that wasn't there before. He seems to be doing that a lot now. Hmm.

I wonder if the stress is getting to him, and driving him crazy.

Nah.

I wouldn't tell him off anyway. It's adorable to see him walk so confidently.

Oh, but if you tell him I said that, I'll gut you like a fish. I have enough knives for all of you little suckers out there.

Also, all you Glimmer-like people out there, stay away. He's not yours. Shoo.

As I walked up to my room, the world seemed to be slowing down. It was kind of fun to see it tur . . I fell asleep.

**A/N: Don't kill me! It's really short, and it is a filler chapter, but I had to squeeze this into my schedule. Next time, it hopefully will go alright.**

**By the way, if you're reading this, can you take the time to leave a review? Just a minute of your time can motivate me to write more. It feels really good to have a review, even if it's a bad one.**

**Thanks!**

**Here's your prompt:**

**If you could go into one photograph in your family albums, which one would it be?**

**Okay!**


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